African Arts Gallery

The Luba are particularly famous for their neckrests and stools made up of a caryatid figure. The neck rests protecting hairstyles during the night were also used to support the heads of the deceased, and sometimes, according to Albert Maesen, buried in their place. This female figure embodying the spirit of an ancestor, vidiye forms the "receptacle of a deceased sovereign leader" (Luba, Roberts). Lustrous patina, erosions and cracks.

The Luba (Baluba in Chiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu river (Baluba “the Lubas”). In the 16th century they created a state, organized into decentralized chieftaincy, which extended from the Kasai River to Lake Tanganyika. The chiefdoms cover a small territory without any real border which brings together at most three villages. Source: “Luba” F. Neyt The Luba (Baluba in Tchiluba) are a people of Central Africa. Their cradle is Katanga, more precisely the region of the Lubu River, hence the name (Baluba, which means "the Lubas"). They were born from a secession of the Songhoy ethnic group, under the leadership of Ilunga Kalala, who caused the death of the old king Kongolo, who has since been venerated in the form of a python. In the sixteenth century they created a state, organized in decentralized chieftaincies, which extended from the Kasai River to Lake Tanganyika. The chieftaincies cover a small territory with no real borders, and include at most three villages. Source: "Luba" F. Neyt